Joe Kennedy, the high school football coach who took his battle to pray at the 50-yard line all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, said it was the “right time” to resign from the position he spent years fighting to win back.
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Kennedy, who is set to release a book next month, “Average Joe: The Coach Joe Kennedy Story,” made headlines this month when he returned to the football field after scoring a landmark religious freedom victory before the high court last year.
But right after returning to coaching and then kneeling and praying on the field, Kennedy decided to step away from his position.
“It just seemed like the right time,” he told CBN’s Faithwire, citing health issues in his wife’s family, among other deciding factors. “Also, it seemed like the right thing to do. I knew the school really didn’t want me there. They made it abundantly clear.”
Kennedy said he wanted to simply “end on a high note,” take the high road, and “retire on my own terms instead of anybody else’s.”
Regardless of Kennedy’s decision to stop working as a coach, he said he was elated to have the chance to kneel at the 50-yard line and pray at his first game back.
“It was the most amazing feeling,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good days, I’ve had a lot of bad days, but that day was probably the most perfect day ever.”
Kennedy added, “We invited God right back into our schools and we could do it legally. So, that was just an awesome, awesome evening. I have no words except for, ‘Thanks to God for everything.'”
He said there weren’t any protestors, which he was grateful for, as he feared it would distract the players. On the flip side, the community reportedly showed up to support Kennedy, with three times as many people coalescing as at a typical game.
The now-former coach also explained why he believes the Kennedy v. Bremerton School District Supreme Court win is a victory for everyone, not just him and Christians more broadly.
“People have more freedom now than they have in the past 50 years,” Kennedy said. “The people that don’t understand and think that I did something wrong, they just need to take a history lesson. … Free speech is something that’s great in America, and I fought to defend that, and I will stand up for everyone’s right, even if they don’t agree with me and they’re protesting me.”
Kennedy will continue focusing on his First Amendment advocacy. Next month, he releases the book, “Average Joe: The Coach Joe Kennedy Story,” and a film about his story is due out next year.
He’s hoping these projects — especially the upcoming book — deliver a dose of inspiration.
“Ones that are on my side, they’ll be able to be inspired by it, because … there is so much going on in the world and there’s so much bad news and negativity,” Kennedy said. “This hopefully will show that, if one guy like me could stand up and change the nation, imagine what we could do if we all stand up together and stand up for our rights?”
Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for the First Liberty Institute, the legal firm representing Kennedy, shed further light this week on Kennedy’s recent departure from the Bremerton School District, alleging the coach was mistreated upon his return.
“Well, coach is a Marine — so he’s too proud, he has too much honor to tell you everything the school district was doing,” Sasser told “Fox & Friends.” “We’re currently investigating all the retaliation that was going on.”
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